Love That Endures
by HotaruBoshi
Summary: A cursed boy and a cursed girl… living to steal love. A cursed boy and a cursed girl… living to be stolen by hatred. A modern AU starring these cursed children. They were normal children with dreams and hopes, all shattered in moments. This is the story of how love destroyed them.
1. Chapter 1

**Note**: This story will have approximately five chapters. The first two will focus on Zeref and Mavis, and the third and fourth on Obito and Rin. The fifth... well, you'll see. Anyway, if you haven't read/watched the _Fairy Tail_ Alvarez arc yet, then proceed with caution. There are **spoilers**. For _Naruto_... If you don't know who Rin Nohara is, then watch out for spoilers.

This story is dedicated to acochran5.

**I don't own _Naruto_ or _Fairy Tail_.**

_"All that you love shall die, and all that you hate shall live."_

* * *

_Goal_… was such an ugly word. No, it was not a goal. It was a _dream_. How were dreams and goals different? A goal was the object of a person's ambition and effort; an aim or desired result. A dream was a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. True, his precious brother, his E.N.D., was his goal, but there was more to life than having a mere goal. The word _goal_… was too shallow.

Zeref Dragneel had a dream.

His father had always jokingly remarked that his son would grow to be the world's silliest dreamer. But it had been meant kindly. His father may have been a hard and rash man, but for all of his flaws, he'd cared for his wife and sons deeply. Those words had been intended as an encouragement, no matter how condescending they seemed.

Afterwards, his mother had always lightly swatted her husband upside the head and laughed. There was nothing wrong with being a dreamer, she had always assured Zeref. Dreams were the invisible force that guided you through life's difficulties: they helped you push on. Dreams decided how you viewed life and love. The greatest leaders in life had started as children with dreams. They had dreamed, but that did not mean that they did not think. True leaders were thinkers who dreamed. _Zeref, child, let your dream be a beautiful, loving one. And don't stop there, my son; make your dream __**reality**__. _

Would they still be proud of him, watching as he basked in the darkness?

What would they think of his dream?

Did they know about the prophesy, his curse?

On his sixth birthday, he'd had a dream. No, not a cherished hope or desire, but a _dream_. At the time, he hadn't understood the dream, hadn't deemed it important enough to remember or ponder over. He had been too young and naïve.

On that gloomy night, he'd fallen asleep beneath the shadows of his blankets. Dream after dream had visited him. _Rusted chains biting into pale flesh, the salty tang of blood in the mouth, an odor of decaying flesh and flies, morbid laughter violating the silence, a sickly gleam of the guillotine_—Terror upon terror had filled him. At last, a voice had ended his suffering.

_Zeref Dragneel, O, Zeref Dragneel, be careful of your dreams. Obey your parents, little boy._

_But I've always obeyed my parents!_ Oh, how clueless and naïve he'd been.

_ Zeref Dragneel, your parents will not always be there. One day in the future, you will make a decision. Remember the words of your parents, for you will need them_.

The voice had been so mysterious, so demanding that he'd listened raptly. There was no way to decide the gender of the person, and no way for him to know if it was simply the product of his dreams, or truly something of reality. He had been so foolish.

_What decision? _

_Your decision is one that concerns life itself. Choose wisely, young man._

He had been so very confused. _And if not?_

_All that you love shall die, and all that you hate shall_ _live_.

He'd never heard the voice again. Zeref never mentioned it to anyone. It was, after all, just a dream. A dream and _nothing _more.

How wrong he had been.

Only five months after his seventh birthday, his brother, his precious Natsu… had been murdered with their parents. Zeref could never recall where he had been at the time; all he knew was that he hadn't been there. _**I**__ should have died! _

Since that miserable day, he'd researched relentlessly.

_Mr. Dragneel, I already told you. Science is a powerful thing, but it won't bring your brother back! Snap out of it, it's __**not**__ going to work!_

_Young sir, we are sorry to say this, but your money will accomplish __**nothing**__. You can pay us millions, even billions of dollars, but there is no way we can resurrect the dead. We are surgeons, not miracle workers._

_You're crazy! He's dead, and he's __**not coming back**__. _

For the first time, Zeref had understood anguish. The words of all the people he had sought out echoed in his mind. There was nothing they could do.

He wasn't sure when, but soon he had started experimenting. He would spend days without food or sleep in his study. And then, he'd brought a bird back from the dead.

Zeref couldn't remember how he'd done it. But he had, and that was all that mattered. The consequence of defying Heaven was not light.

_All that you love shall die, and all that you hate shall live._

He was cursed.

He would always assure himself that he did not care, that it had been worth it. But sometimes, as he walked alone in a cemetery of unburied animals and humans robbed of life, his eyes would water.

He was cursed.

Zeref took to despising life. If he did not care for others, they would not die.

It had worked.

That is, until he met _her_.

_I loved her. My love killed her, even though she was just like me._

_Honest green eyes staring back at him, golden hair flying freely, smiling lips forming three words—_

_All that you love shall die, and all that you hate shall live._

_**Love destroyed him. **_


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry that I took this long! It took me forever to get the dialogue right, and this chapter is the longest I've ever written. I hope you enjoy!**

**_Fairy Tail_ belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

_If you love life, you will kill it. If you despise life, you will save it._

* * *

Mavis Vermilion loved to daydream.

Whether she was sipping tea at home, reading books at the library, studying for a test at school, or even lying in her bed at night, Mavis loved to dream. She believed that daydreams were not childish or stupid. Daydreams were a source of inspiration for her when she completed her homework, and her motivation for studying stemmed from her daydreams. No, she did not dream of becoming a billionaire or politician—those were wonderful goals, but Mavis wished to do something_ more_.

Mavis simply hoped to become a teacher.

Politicians held great power, but to homely people who wished to live quiet and peaceful lives, those men and women who gave rousing speeches were merely clanging gongs and ringing bells. Their speeches would be admired and appreciated, but to country families their words meant_ nothing_. Mavis did not want this type of influence.

Billionaires held power over the poor. If they were generous, starving children might live awhile longer. But if they were discontent and miserly fellows, the poor would suffer. Society would look up to them and envy them, but they had no real power. That was the extent of their influence.

Mavis longed to be a teacher. It was true that teachers had little influence over adults or the government, but she did not care to reign over officials or civilians. Power had never been appealing to her. It was the knowledge that she would impact and inspire the next generation that interested her.

To a child, the most important thing besides food and shelter was an adult figure who cared for them. Many children had parents to watch over them and comfort them, but what about the orphans who lacked families, the children who were raised in broken families, and the neglected children who didn't know their families? They had no one to look up to as a role model. That is, unless they had a kind and loving teacher.

Mavis hoped to become the type of teacher that students would look to for help and advice. The sort of teacher that would inspire children to be kind and generous, the teacher that would motivate them so that they would study harder.

Mavis wanted to offer a helping hand to children in need.

So Mavis studied especially hard. There would be dozens of obstacles, but there was no way that she would change her mind. Her heart had chosen this path, and it wouldn't back down.

But Mavis had made one miscalculation. In all of her dreams and plans, she had disregarded the fact that she might _fall in love_. She had forgotten that she too, was human. She had not thought it plausible for her to _see someone and love them._

It had been impossible for her mind to comprehend such a thing.

That was her mistake.

It had not been a slight and forgettable mistake. No, it was the kind that scarred and could not easily be overlooked. It was a fatal mistake.

* * *

One day, Mavis decided to announce her dream to the world.

_ Ha! That shorty wants to be a **teacher**? She's nuts! All she does is daydream; she couldn't be a teacher._

_ Yeah, that's what I tried to tell her, but it wouldn't get through her thick head that she'd be a horrible teacher._

_ I bet that any first grader would be smarter and taller than her!_

What fine words for friends to say.

_ Ms. Vermilion, I hate to break this to you, but your math is very… weak. You can't be a teacher. I think that when you grow up, you'll understand why I'm telling you this. You can't be a teacher, Mavis. Just give it up. There are lots of other jobs. _

Even her kindest teacher would not support her.

_A fat lot of good you'd do as a teacher, you good-for-nothing barefoot. You can't even talk to someone for five minutes without getting distracted, let alone teach! _

_ Give it up, you freak! You're so dumb, you—_

Oh, shut up!

Mavis Vermilion was heartbroken. _Rejection—I knew it would hurt, but why so much?_ Even her supposed friends had turned against her. She'd tried so, so hard, and _this_ was the result.

_Why?_

Why couldn't they understand?

_They knew nothing!_

They didn't understand how it was to be mistreated, alone and without hope. They couldn't comprehend the pain of losing everything and gaining nothing. They didn't understand how she had felt as a six-year-old girl who had nothing to lose, and they would never know how much she longed to be loved.

They didn't know that she had vowed to never let a child suffer the way she had. She couldn't save all the children in the world, but she would save those that she could. That was her dream, and she _wouldn't _let it go.

Those were Mavis' thoughts as she shoved open the door of the women's lavatory. _I won't cry! I'm not that weak._ But tears escaped the confinement of her eyes, and she surrendered to her emotions. With a wild sob she threw herself into a stall and sagged against its wooden walls.

_Why? _

"…"

The sound of the toilet flushing made her pause, but she dismissed it as her own imagination. The door of the stall had been wide open, so there couldn't be anyone but her.

"Hullo."

Mavis stifled a squeak. "Who…Who are you? What are you doing in here?" Black eyes stared back at her. There was a _boy_ standing in the stall of a _girls_' bathroom.

"Looking for you."

Mavis gaped.

"YOU PERVERT!"

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Zeref Dragneel was many things.

In his youth he had been hailed a genius prodigy. His professors and classmates had all been awed by every little thing that he did, and would always use those words to describe him. Zeref was not a proud man, but he knew their words to be true. His IQ was above average.

Now he was an infamous criminal. _Murderer, wicked, monster, demon, heartless, fiend_—the list could go on forever. Even nationally wanted men and murderers who had committed atrocious crimes would tremble at the mere mention of his name. Speaking of him was taboo, and many of the naïve dismissed him as legend. A figure of folklore, and _nothing_ more.

The ones who knew that he was more than a legend or dead man of long ago were afraid of him. He was widely despised in the hearts of the populace, but the wise feared him. He was a threat to society, prince of the demons, bringer of the apocalypse, accursed scion of catastrophe, and blah blah blah—

But on the top of the list, he was certain, would be the words **IMPULSIVE BRAT** in bold.

He hadn't meant to say what he had. It had been entirely unintentional, a mistake on the spur of the moment. It also wasn't his fault that someone had changed the restrooms. The last time he had come (some thirty years ago), the current position of the girls' lavatory was where the boys' once stood, so it wasn't his fault. Seriously, believe it.

And now the girl thought that he was a pervert.

He didn't bother to duck as a roll of toilet paper was thrown at him. There was no point in doing so. Once the girl finished ranting at him, she would leave him alone. Girls were surprisingly emotional.

The roll of paper thudded to a halt beside him, and he stared at the girl. The fire faded from her vibrant eyes, and she bowed her head in embarrassment. She seemed apologetic and uncomfortable.

She chewed her lower lip and sniffed, "Um, could you please leave? I'm sorry about, eh, throwing the, um…" _drip, drip, drip—_

_ Why was she crying? _

Zeref couldn't understand why a girl like her had been crying. She wasn't physically ill or hurt, so why was she upset? Or perhaps she suffered emotional turmoil.

"Why do you cry?" Zeref supposed that it was expected of him to comfort her or apologize, but he did not believe that she wanted anything of him.

"I…"

Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Zeref wondered why he had asked her.

"I…"

He had never met her, so _why_ did he care? _No, no, no, nodon'tpleaseIdon'twanttokillher!_

Familiar blackness clouded his mind, and he bit his lip so tightly that he tasted blood. _Why, Ankhseram? I don't want to be alone anymore! _

"Because I was rejected!" The girl cried suddenly, and the darkness vanished.

"Oh…" so that was it. There was someone that she loved, but that person _didn't love her_. He understood her pain, to some degree. Zeref opened the door and stepped outside. The black haze had retuned. _I don't want to kill her._

"Wait!" the girl shouted. She reached toward him pleadingly. "I'm Mavis. Who are you?"

Zeref quickened his pace. "A pervert."

"Idiot!" the girl-Mavis, his mind supplied-bellowed. Zeref tripped over absolutely nothing. Of all the names and titles the world had given him, "idiot" was _definitely_ the nicest. (Idiot is nicer than ugly demon, right?)

Zeref smiled.

"Good bye, Mavis." His curse wouldn't allow him to stay longer than he already had. Something compelled him to add, "If you have a dream, don't stop there. Make your dream _reality_."

That was the first time they had met.

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Mavis Vermilion believed that she had met an angel.

There was no other way that she could explain her chance encounter with the boy. He had appeared out of the blue and comforted her, and although he seemed to be the right age, she had never seen him at her university.

He _had_ to be an angel.

When she mentioned this to her friend Zera, the other girl smiled and pat her on the head. "Next thing we know you'll be claiming to have met fairies! But I'm just like you, so I believe you."

That had been seven months ago.

Now she stood trembling before the double doors of a restaurant and wondered if her angel would come to rescue her from a fate worse than death. She was fifteen, and her friends had insisted that she go on a date. She was _fifteen_, for goodness' sake, and they had set her up on a blind date!

Mavis sighed and opened the doors of doom. She needed new friends. Her friends had wanted to be matchmakers for a very long time, and she was the sacrificial lamb.

"Okay, tall, handsome blondie with a silver watch; tall, handsome blondie with a silver watch." Mavis repeated to herself. "I can do this, I can—"

Instead of spotting a tall blonde, she noticed a short figure with familiar ebony hair. _It couldn't be!_

Mavis gasped, "_You_! You're—"

The angel's head snapped towards her, and his eyes widened. He started from his chair and whispered, "What do you want?"

"Why are you here? Are…are you here to save me again?"

It wasn't that time had stopped, for time stops for no man. The waiters and waitresses continued their work, the customers chatted on, clocks continued to tick—nothing had changed. Outside the restaurant, cars drove by, birds flew in the air, and people lived their lives. The world was oblivious to the reunion. Time flowed on.

It was as though the girl and her angel had transcended time.

This moment, seemingly endless in the eyes of those bound by time, would be nothing to them. Time no longer held meaning.

_Thank you for saving me._

In an instant of understanding, they broke eye contact and returned into time. Together they exited the building, and together they walked in silence. They came upon a park and followed its sandy trails. They didn't speak; a brook sang beyond the resting willows, and birds chirped in the air.

But Mavis neither saw nor heard any of this. Why was her angel here? Was he really an angel? What would he say to her, and after this, would they meet again? She didn't want this to be the last time.

"Um, I have an appointment after this…uh," Mavis stuttered to a halt. "I…would you like to have my phone number? Not to be suggestive or anything!"

The angel looked at her for a long moment. Her breath caught in her throat. Would he say yes?

"Alright," he said at last.

They smiled at each other in the summer light. Life was beautiful.

That was the second time they had met.

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

From that day forward they set up a long-distance relation-uh, friendship.

Spriggan, her nickname for him, (he was too freaking mysterious!) was out of town for months at a time, but he would always take time to call Mavis during the evenings. Mavis never asked him where he lived or if he had any family. The time never seemed right to ask these personal questions, and she had the feeling that he was sensitive about his past.

Okay, maybe she ought to have known that kind of thing before they became friends, but she knew lots of other things about him! She knew that his favorite author was Edgar Allen Poe, that he didn't watch movies, and that he seemed to have some type of disease. Mavis was actually proud to know these things; she'd discovered them through observation.

(Um, fine, the fact that he'd never watched movies doesn't count. He told her that.)

Mavis was about 96.999 percent sure that he had some type of disease…or childhood trauma…or maybe he was just that anti-social. Why else would he shun physical contact so vehemently? Whenever they met in person, Spriggan would not come within two meters of her. If they were in a public place, the space would increase dramatically.

Mavis never asked him, but a small part of her knew that one day she would have to.

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

"Spriggan, will we ever share our first kiss?"

Spriggan looked at her flatly. "It's been seven months, Mavis."

Mavis pouted and whined, "That's the point! Just answer my question."

"No."

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Mavis lounged on the couch and watched idly as Spriggan, her boyfriend of one year, read Tolkien's Silmarillion. She picked at a loose string and asked, "Have you ever had a dream?"

Spriggan peered at her through his bangs. "Yes. Have you?"

"I have. I want to be a teacher."

He tilted his head thoughtfully and closed the book. "Oh, I see. Why?"

A year ago, Mavis would have asked him to elaborate. Now she understood him perfectly. "I like the idea of shaping a young child. I mean, most kids have parents, but what about the ones who don't? What will they think of adults? To them, adults are either strange and uncaring giants, or the ones who made them suffer." Spriggan was staring at her again, as though she had just said that it was 1945, and the Allies had just won the war. She pressed on, "I want to help the ones within my reach, Spriggan. I don't want children to suffer needlessly!"

"That is a dream worth living for, I suppose." He said at last, and Mavis knew that he meant it.

When he said nothing else and returned to his book, Mavis asked, "What about you? What's your dream?"

Startled, Spriggan snapped his head up. In his black eyes, Mavis spotted something akin to pain. She chewed her lower lip and wondered if it would have been wiser to keep quiet.

"My dream is to be normal."

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Mavis sat up and yawned. She lifted herself from her bed, only to realize that she wasn't alone. Her eyes widened.

"YOU IDIOT!"

Her idiot of a boyfriend tilted his head to dodge the pillow that she had thrown at him. "You were crying in your sleep."

Mavis dropped the second pillow that she had raised. "Huh?" Memories flooded her mind, and she remembered.

_Rusted chains biting into pale flesh, the salty tang of blood in the mouth, an odor of decaying flesh and flies, morbid laughter violating the silence, a sickly gleam of the guillotine_—

Mavis shuddered.

"Mavis?" Spriggan was looking at her with concern.

"I…there was a person." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "They said that if I kept associating with you, then…oh, _I don't know!_"

Spriggan watched her wordlessly from his place at the door. He mumbled, "What will you do?"

Mavis stared. "You expect me to just break up with you or something? If so, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I won't do that. It's just a dream, you know." She stood and began rearranging her blankets.

"Just a dream?"

"Hm? Well, of course! What else could it be?"

Something about him felt off, so she added, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes." Ignoring her shocked expression, he continued, "You never thought to find out my name, did you? My name is Zeref."

Mavis stilled. _No, it can't be true!_ "…What?"

"I am the Black Wizard Zeref." Zeref smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile.

Mavis searched for words. "That's a lie!"

"Oh, but it isn't." Zeref glided forward gracefully, and Mavis found herself frozen in place. "Did you ever wonder why I wouldn't come near to you or any person? Didn't it seem strange to you that I never introduced myself? You are a fool, Mavis Vermilion." Zeref turned away and headed for the door.

"Please, don't go!"

Zeref paused. "It's a shame, really. To think that I thought that I could be normal, so long ago. It's too late, Mavis."

"What do you mean?"

"The moment you associated yourself with me, foolish little girl," Zeref purred, "you sold your soul to the Devil. The very second you decided to befriend me, you took life into your own hands. You are just like me now, little girl."

Mavis stared in horror at her own hands. _You took life into your own hands, foolish little girl_. She found the courage to speak and whimpered, "I'm not like you."

"Oh, how funny. Let me tell you something: When I was in my youth, my younger brother died." Mavis opened her mouth, but he held up his hand. "No, I don't need your pity. I was like you, back then. I was foolish and optimistic, and I was sure that I could bring him back to life. But of course, I couldn't do it by myself, so I made a deal with the Devil. If he helped me resurrect my brother, I would kill people for him." Zeref laughed hollowly, and Mavis wondered if he was really the angel that had saved her so long ago. _Don't trust people too easily, for Satan was once an angel._

"So, what went wrong?" Mavis asked when he didn't continue.

"My brother came back to life. But, when I made that deal with the Devil, I hadn't meant to keep my part of the bargain. He knew, of course. To prevent this, he cursed me, thus forcing me to fulfil my vow. Since that day, Ankhseram's curse has never failed to rob the lives of those around me." A black aura was now spreading around him, and Zeref shrieked, "_But now I am not alone! You suffer the same fate as I, Mavis Vermilion! You, too, are cursed!_"

"_No_! I can't be cursed! What have I ever done?" Mavis cried in disbelief. She noticed that she had been clenching her fists, but she didn't care. How did it come to this?

"It is the truth. If you love life, you will kill it. If you despise life, you will save it." Zeref closed the door behind him.

As Mavis stared at the place where he had stood, she realized that a part of her had left with Zeref. Words unbidden sprang to her lips, and she screamed, "_Zeref, I love you!_"

Beyond the door, Zeref Dragneel shed a single tear.

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Mavis hated the rain.

She hated how the clouds were ugly and a prison to the blue sky. The sun's light would be trapped, and hope seemed to be so far away. Rainy days were cold and black, and old wounds would be reopened.

She hated that rain brought back distant and painful memories.

The only times he had ever let her walk close to him was when it rained, and he had been carrying the umbrella for her. She had been happy, so long ago.

_Why? Why did he leave me?_

"Mavis, is that you? What are you doing without an umbrella? You'll catch cold!" Someone placed a hand on her shoulder, and she saw that it was her friend Yuri Dreyar.

Yuri guided her to the small house that he shared with his wife, Rita. Once she had sat down on a sofa in his parlor, he barked, "What were you thinking, Mavis? Anything could have happened to you. And where is this boyfriend you've been telling me about?"

It had been half a year since Zeref had left, but the scar still bled. Tears fell, and Mavis whispered brokenly, "We broke up six months ago."

Yuri gasped, "What…hey, hey, Mavis, don't cry! Shoot, it's my fault. I'm sorry that I said that. Wait, hold on, I'll be right back." He stood and disappeared down the corridor.

Soon enough, he and his wife both entered the parlor. Looking closer, Mavis noticed that Rita carried a strange bundle in her arms.

"Mavis, meet my son Makarov Dreyar."

Mavis watched the tiny baby reach towards her with pudgy hands, and all of her sorrows were forgotten. She moved to touch him, but a sudden horror seized her. _No, I can't! I can't care about life!_

"You can touch him, Mavis." Rita patted her head, and Mavis _screamed_.

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Zeref Dragneel watched as Mavis ran from the small house. He had warned her, but she hadn't listened. He shook his head sadly, and turned away. _I'm sorry, Mavis._

A sudden noise caused him to look back, and he saw a truck racing down the road. Mavis was running towards the road, and Zeref realized with a start that she hadn't seen the truck, and the driver hadn't seen her. Calculating the pace of each of them, he knew with a cold certainty that Mavis would be crushed by the truck.

But he didn't care.

Mavis was no longer his girlfriend, and he had told himself thousands of times that he didn't really love her. He wasn't capable of loving anyone. What ever happened to her would not bother him, and since she was cursed, he reasoned, she would survive it.

He watched in fascination as Mavis' small feet landed on the cement road, and the truck lunged as a tiger towards its prey. He could envision the blood that would spray onto the earth. He could hear her screams of agony.

His body moved of its own accord.

He felt the pain of having his bones crushed one by one. He smelt the stench of the truck's engine as it roared above him.

_Honest green eyes stared back at him, golden hair flew freely, smiling lips formed three words—_

Their lips met in a deadly moment.

_I love you. _

_~~~Love That Endures~~~_

Zeref Dragneel traced the five words that decorated the stone grave marker.

**_Mavis _****_Vermilion_**.

Tears fell, and Zeref _screamed._

**_Love destroyed her._**

* * *

_Please review! _

_Just to be clear, in this story Ankhseram is a demon, and Zeref made a Faustian bargain with him. I hope you liked it!_


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